Tag: Forging Steel

I am excited to share my latest pattern with you: Forging Steel. This pattern is optimized to make use of charm squares or layer cakes so you can use your favorite fabric collections!

You may remember Forging Steel from Issue 8 of Make Modern magazine. This is probably one of my favorite quilts. I love how the swirls on the background stand out against the bright fabrics of the blocks and border. This quilt uses an anvil block as the base, but with more half square triangles! The border brightens the quilt, and updates a traditional pattern, while leaving plenty of negative space to play with quilting.

In this expanded and updated version, I have included expanded illustrated instructions for the lap/large baby quilt from the magazine, as well as a large twin/double and queen-sized versions of the quilt. There are now 2 block sizes, 3 quilt sizes, and 2 methods to learn to make half square triangles (2 at a time and 4 at a time).

The traditional anvil block gets a modern update with negative space, and a HST border. Make it in light or dark fabrics, scrappy, or even from two colors to get a more traditional look. I’ve used four square patches for the block centers in my Cotton & Steel version to create additional scrappiness or one large block in the Milliefleur version to show off Bari J’s amazing fabrics.

Go crazy with the quilting, because this quilt has plenty of opportunities for you to practice new fills or to perfect your favorite design. Or, you can do a simple allover and let the fabric shine.

The quilt pattern is available in lap, twin/double, and queen. I call it a twin/double because it’s really the recommended double size, but it looks good on a twin bed. As you can below, it has a nice overhang on a twin sized bed. This bed frame has a footboard, so that’s why the foot of the bed is hanging a bit oddly.

Columbus Day weekend marked my first New York quilt show. The Dutchess Heritage Quilt Show is every other year in Poughkeepsie, New York at Dutchess Community College and is put on (mostly) by members of the First Dutchess Quilters (but it’s not technically the guild’s show).

They had a wide variety of vendors (16!) and put on a fashion show and workshops in conjunction with the show.

I entered a few quilts, and was quite pleased with my first showing up here. I like to enter quilt shows because it’s one of the few places that you can receive true feedback on the quality of your quilting and piecing. Show and Tell at guilds is great, but it’s purpose is to share and celebrate and inspire (not to critique). Classes teach a new technique, but don’t necessarily help you learn what you need to learn to improve the techniques you already know.

In the interest of removing some of the mystique from quilt show judging and to help others learn from my lessons, I want to share the comments for my quilts.

The first quilt I entered was my Forging Steel quilt, which is in Make Modern issue 8. This quilt earned 1st place in Pieced Wall Quilt, a Judge’s Choice award, and a Vendor’s Choice award (Amelia’s Garden). The comments for this quilt (and all the others in this show) were very in-depth and positively phrased even if referring to improvements.

One of Those Days was a mini quilt I made a tutorial for that had a few issues, which is probably why it did not do as well. I earned 3rd place in the Miniature category. I use a smaller binding for miniatures – a 2″ double fold binding, but I guess should go even smaller in the future.

Fabrics and quilting design well chosen to keep scale for miniature

Traditional look successfully achieved

Excellent piecing and quilting technique

Binding, although well secured, should be in scale for miniature

I also entered my Nature of Purple quilt in the Pieced Wall quilt category, and this quilt just does not show well. I also used white thread for part of the piecing before I thought about it. I switched to purple thread later, but after quilting if you look super close, you can see the white thread a little bit.

Modern interpretation is successfully achieved

Take care with obtrusive piecing thread

Complementary quilting design is successfully achieved

Excellent binding

How have your experiences entering a quilt show shaped your quilting? Has it been a positive experience with valuable feedback, or are there things that you wish had gone differently?

This is Issue 8 of Make Modern magazine, which was released November 1st. Forging Steel is large baby/lap sized quilt. I personally like large baby quilts, so I would not hesitate to use this quilt for that purpose (although this one is going to be all mine!).

The block is a spin-off of the traditional anvil block with a border of half square triangles surrounding. I made this quilt with a variety of Cotton & Steel prints, so combining the historical roots with the modern brand of fabric used, I called it Forging Steel.

I quilted the background with large spiral loops and then went linear on the inside of the blocks for contrast. I left the triangles puffy because the puff once again contrasts the heavy quilting elsewhere. I really love custom quilting contrasts. The batting is Quilter’s Dream Puff, so it’s nice and light with good loft. In the background I used Bottom Line, and the inside of the blocks is a minty So-Fine.

I love this quilt, and I hope you do too! Please share if you make it because I would love to see your version. The hashtag is #forgingsteelquilt.